The Legends of Shirou Emiya
by BrotherofaStudio
Summary: What if Shirou were a more traditional heroic spirit? 5 stories of Shirou as an ancient hero. Disclaimer: I own nothing.
1. The first hero (Babylon)

The legends of Shirou Emiya

The First Hero (Babylon)

Shirou Emiya was born to a tribe of nomads. One day, this tribe accidentally wandered into the underworld, realm of Ereshkigal. Despite being good people, they had to be punished for their intrusion, for the living were not meant to enter Ereshkigal's realm until they died. So, reluctantly, the goddess sent demons to kill the travellers. Amidst the slaughter, however, one of their number was able to escape back to the world above: Shirou.

Traumatised and near death, the boy was saved by a passing sorcerer who brought him back to his village. The man healed Shirou's wounds and took him in to raise as his son. The trip into the underworld had left Shirou forever scarred. Not only because of the deaths of his friends and family, but also because he had to essentially sacrifice them in order to survive, leaving them behind to secure his escape. This left him with survivor's guilt and a determination to help as many people as he could, no matter the cost.

To help him achieve this goal of saving others, Shirou begged his new father to teach him the secrets of magic. The sorcerer had wished for his son to take up a normal life, but eventually, he gave in to his son's pleading. He taught him how to craft and repair magical weapons and objects, but refused to teach any more. Shirou never got the chance to convince him otherwise as, after the boy had mastered his new skill, the older man died in his sleep. With his new ability, Shirou became the best blacksmith in his village, helping others in whatever way he could. However, he was still suffering from depression. Without the ability to fight, he felt that there was little he could do to save others. Out of pity, and because the boy had always been so good and kind to them all, the other villagers agreed to teach him the ways of combat. Shirou was taught various forms of swordplay, although he truly mastered none. His true skill came to light when the hunters instructed him how to use a bow. He surpassed all the other archers in the village. He was so good, in fact, that a travelling soothsayer predicted that Shirou would only ever miss his target once in his life.

One day, while he was attempting to practice a certain type of jump for his eventual travels to help the world, Shirou was seen by a travelling woman who was staying in the village for the night. His persistence, despite his countless failures, drew her curiosity, as well as admiration. So much, in fact, that she sought him out the following day to learn more about him. However, during their conversation, a nobleman from Uruk arrived with his guards. Upon seeing the woman with whom Shirou was conversing, he ordered his men that she be brought to him for his pleasure. Fortunately for her, Shirou stood in defence against her attackers and chased them off, though not without grievous injury. Yet he survived, as the woman revealed herself to be a sorceress of greater power than his father Using a ruby pendant, the sorceress, named Rin, healed his wounds. Having saved each other, Shirou and Rin began to feel the sparks of romance between them. They grew closer, with Rin staying in the village and, in time, helping him somewhat recover from his survivor's guilt. She swore to accompany Shirou on his quest to aid others, though only on the condition that he marry her. Shirou happily agreed to this. However, as there was no priest in the village to conduct the ceremony, the two had to journey to the city of Uruk, where the king, Gilgamesh, ruled as a tyrant.

Once the two arrived in the city, they found a priest who agreed to marry them without informing the king. However, but they were spotted by Shinji, the noble whom Shirou had chased off. Determined to get his revenge, Shinji informed Gilgamesh of their presence and their intentions. Gilgamesh had long upheld the law of the first night, where he would bed any maiden in the city on her wedding night before her husband could consummate the marriage. By conducting their marriage without informing him, Shirou and Rin were attempting to deny Gilgamesh this "right". Not one to let his laws be defied, Gilgamesh located the couple and ordered his guards to apprehend them. Luckily, despite not having mastered the way of the sword, Shirou was skilled enough to defeat the guards. Annoyed, the king entered the battle personally.

Gilgamesh knew that his opponent was of common birth, so he did not take the fight seriously and only fought at a fraction of his true skill. This proved an eternal mistake for the king as Shirou emerged the victor, disarming his foe and leaving him in a stunned state. Gilgamesh had never before been beaten, especially by a mere mortal, so at this defeat, he could only stare in front of him in shock, unresponsive to the world. Meanwhile, Shirou and Rin married and consummated their union without the king's interference and, in fact, within earshot of the catatonic demigod. It wasn't until the two had safely leave Uruk that Gilgamesh recovered himself.

In his rage, the king killed the nobleman Shinji, who had brought this affair to him in the first place. Gilgamesh then fell even farther into his tyrannical tendencies in a vain attempt to forget his first defeat. The people of Uruk cried out to the gods for deliverance. In response, the gods sent Enkidu to bring down the tyrant. This, of course, backfired, as Gilgamesh and Enkidu instead became friends. The two, in time, slew Humbaba and the bull of heaven, enraging the gods for their defiance.

It was Ereshkigal who suggested to call upon Shirou to punish Gilgamesh and Enkidu as Shirou alone might have the skill to succeed. To ensure that he would not betray them as Enkidu had, both Ishtar and Ereshkigal were sent to find Shirou and offer whatever gifts they could to win his services and loyalty.

After their marriage in Uruk, Shirou and Rin journeyed across the world, fighting off bandits, freeing slaves, giving food and water to the needy and other deeds that helped relieve Shirou from his sense of guilt. One day, as the married couple were preparing to return to their home village, they were met by Ishtar and Ereshkigal. The twin goddesses had come to ask for Shirou's aid against Gilgamesh and Enkidu. Yet when they saw Shirou, they were quite taken by the man's handsome features and both began to desire him. Each offered Shirou the chance to be their lover for a night in exchange for killing Enkidu. However, Shirou refused as he was faithful to his wife. Though irritated, the goddesses also admired Shirou's loyalty to his beloved, so instead they offered to make him immortal. Again, Shirou declined, as he hoped to reunite with his deceased loved ones after his death. The goddesses were further angered, but were equally impressed with Shirou's desire to remain true to his views of a hero. Now more determined than ever to claim him as a lover for at least one night, Ishtar and Ereshkigal debated what to do. However, it was Rin who came up with a solution.

When a mortal would die, their soul would be judged. If found worthy, they would be permitted to live in a beautiful paradise in the underworld: a mountain covered with greenery and a beautiful city. This paradise would be reserved for heroes and those close to them. All weapons would be left at the bottom of the mountain and used only for its defence. In exchange for this paradise's creation, Shirou would kill Enkidu, who would then become the paradise mountain's first resident, followed by Shirou and Rin when they themselves died. Also, for one night, Rin would share her husband with both goddesses.

This proposal was quite agreeable to both Ereshkigal and Ishtar. Shirou also consented to the arrangement and so the four of them shared a long night of passion. In the morning, Shirou went off on his assignment, though not before Ereshkigal gave him one of her spears to kill Enkidu, just in case he should need it.

Shirou found Enkidu in the fields that surrounded Uruk. He prepared his bow and aimed his arrow at Enkidu's head. Yet before he even loosed the arrow, Shirou remembered the travelling soothsayer from so many years before and her prophecy that he would miss his target once in his life. He knew, then, that this was that prophesized time. The arrow flew and, indeed, missed its mark, hitting the ground in front of Enkidu. Shirou was thus forced to kill his target while it was scared and confused, rather than a mercifully quick death before the victim could register danger. The second arrow reached Enkidu's heart. Shirou wished, as he watched, to comfort the dying warrior, but he did not.

Instead, it was Gilgamesh who heard his friend's dying words. Afterwards, the king flew into a murderous rage and demanded:

"Why kill him?!"

To which Shirou calmly replied:

"It was his punishment for defying the gods."

Gilgamesh roared in fury and charged at the man he hated more than any other. Rather than fight him with swords, Shirou unloaded arrow after arrow into Gilgamesh's person until the warrior collapsed. He was gravely wounded, but not dying as his attendants ran from the city gates to save their ruler. Shirou could have ended the fight then and there, but chose instead to leave and hope that Gilgamesh had learned his lesson so that his death would not be required. Gilgamesh slept a fortnight and rested for another before he could stand. All throughout that time, he thought about his hatred for Shirou, his grief for Enkidu and his new-found fear of death.

Meanwhile, Shirou returned home and found that the gods were greatly pleased by his accomplishment. He also found Ereshkigal waiting for him. She confessed what she did to the tribe of nomads he had been born into and though he was outraged, he did not take vengeance and even let go of his hate for the goddess. He knew, after all, that she had only done her duty and that she did feel remorse for her actions. The goddess then allowed Shirou to keep the spear she had given him but that he hadn't used against Enkidu.

Shirou became a blacksmith again. Until, several months later, the village received a distressed message from Uruk: an army of phantasmal beasts were invading the city out of vengeance for Humbaba while Gilgamesh was on his quest for immortality. Shirou agreed to help by forging over a thousand blades, one for each of the city's warriors, and then bringing these weapons to them personally. But, upon reaching the city, Shirou found that the defenders were cowering in their homes. In desperation to save the city, he fired his arrows at the beasts in a desperate hope to slay them. The creatures focused on him and while some did fall to his attacks, Shirou ran out of arrows before he could kill them all. So, he substituted them with his newly forged swords.

The beasts fell one after another before this guardian of mankind. Even when Shirou ran out of swords from the carts he'd been using to transport them, he kept fighting by retrieving the swords he had already used and firing them again. When one of the attackers would get too close, Shirou would fight with his two favoured blades until he was at a safe distance again. The battle went on for hours, but, finally, the exhausted Shirou slew all the phantasmal beasts. He was hailed as the hero of the city and the grateful people even offered him the kingship, but he wisely refused.

…

When Gilgamesh finally returned, empty handed, from his quest, he saw his city celebrating Shirou's name, offering him much glory and many treasures. This was too much for the king to bear. He felt as if Shirou had tried to imitate him, to steal renown that "rightly" belonged to him. Gilgamesh roared a challenge to his hated rival. Shirou knew all too well that his opponent meant it to be a battle to the death, yet he had no choice but to accept. Both warriors had fully regained their strength, so they would fight on fairly even terms.

All throughout the fight, Gilgamesh constantly mocked Shirou, calling a fraud and a faker. He opened the gate of Babylon wide and used every weapon at his disposal. But the weapons that Shirou had created came to life and countered each blow perfectly, leaving the warriors with only their skill. And when it came to that, Shirou had the advantage. Gilgamesh had only his gate of Babylon and, without it, he was nothing. Shirou, on the other hand, had actually trained and fought for many years throughout many a hard battle. He was a true warrior. And so, with his rightly earned skill and prowess, Shirou won. Even Gilgamesh attempting to use Ea was not enough as, before he could draw the sword of rupture, Shirou chopped of the hand that had grasped it, ending the fight.

Shirou could have ended the king's life right there and then. But, instead, he sparred his rival one last time. He let Gilgamesh live, though not before giving him a last word of advice: to let go of his hatred and his fears and learn how to lead his city again with only one hand.

After his final victory over Gilgamesh, Shirou began a quest of his own. For, during his battle against the phantasmal beasts, one of the beasts had escaped: the second bull of heaven, brother to the one Ishtar had sent to attack Gilgamesh and Enkidu. This bull was savage and elusive, but Shirou found it before long. He knew that the creature would not come quietly, so he took it by surprise. He leapt upon its back and rode it. The bull fought, charged and did all it could to get its rider off, but Shirou held on and managed to guide it back to the goddess Ishtar. In her presence, the beast finally calmed. Shirou asked for no reward, save that the gods only call upon him should the need be dire.

The rest of Shirou's life was peaceful and, when both he and his wife died peacefully, they were brought to the paradise they had been promised. But despite all he had accomplished, Shirou had one great regret: that he had not apologized to Enkidu before he died, that he had not made things right. So, when Shirou was recorded into the throne of heroes, his wish was to have had the courage and speed to have reached Enkidu before Gilgamesh to make amends.

**Class: Archer, Caster, Assassin, Saber, Berserker**

**Titles: The First Hero**

**Sex: Male**

**Alignment: Neutral Good**

**Noble Phantasm**

**Enforcer of the gods: EX**

**In life Shirou served as the gods' answer to Gilgamesh therefore he may gain a different noble phantasm based on his deeds and the god he calls upon.**

**Ishtar grants the use of the second bull of heaven for Shirou to ride, it can fly, breath fire and possess incredible strength and speed. The longer Shirou rides the beast the more likely it will turn on him.**

**Ereshkigal permits Shirou to use the spear she gifted him and summon a reality marble of the mountain paradise that she created as reward for his services. No weapons or noble phantasms can be used unless Shirou is defending somebody other than himself, the field gradually damages all within as it is part of the underworld, the effect is lessened with Shirou and will only deactivate on his command.**

**Nergal whom Shirou prayed to when defending Uruk, permits Shirou to summon every weapon he ever forged and use them in a manner nearly identical to the gate of Babylon.**

**Anu the one who insured that Shirou would be chosen for his task, grants the ability to render Ea useless by speaking the names of the three main gods, Anu, Ea and Enlil. This is only effective against Gilgamesh and requires Shirou to sacrifice one of his arms.**


	2. The guardian of Ulster (Ireland)

The legend of Shirou Emiya

Guardian of Ulster (Ireland)

Born the son of the blacksmith Culann, Shirou grew up rather similarly to most boys of Ulster. Until, one day, while making an errand for his father, Shirou was injured by the boy Setanta. He was twirling a spear to impress the other boys of the village, but he lost hold of the weapon and it sailed directly into Shirou's chest. Fortunately, it did not pierce very deeply and only left a light scar. Still, this accident sparked a great dislike for Setanta within Shirou, one that he would bear for most of his life.

Shirou's resentment for Setanta only increased. One night, Setanta was walking on a hill which overlooked Shirou's home. He accidentally kicked a pebble which rolled down the hill, through the household's kitchen window and directly onto the fire. Sparks and embers flew up from the hearth and flames spread throughout the house before anyone could try to put it out. Miraculously, no one was badly injured, but no one could understand what had caused the fire. No one except Shirou, who noticed Setanta in the distance and suspected that he was somehow the cause.

Sometime later, Conchobar, the king of Ulster, and his court visited Culann in his home to make reparations for their near-death experience. All was going well until the death cry of the family guard dog was heard and it was revealed that Setanta had killed the hound in self defense. Blind with rage over the death of his childhood friend, Shirou had to be restrained by his father to prevent him from killing the other boy. Knowing that his son would likely die should he face the boy now, Culann placed a geas on Shirou that prevented him from fighting Setanta unless Shirou had been wronged by him three times. However, unknown to all, the restrictions were lifted almost as soon as they were placed. After all, it was Setanta who had caused the fire that nearly took Shirou's life, though no one knew of it. After this event, Culann told of how Setanta would grow to become the guard dog of Ulster, earning the boy the name Cu Chulainn.

As compensation for all the wrongs done to him, king Conchobar ordered the knights of the red branch to train Shirou into the finest warrior of their order, with Fergus mac Roich being the boy's greatest teacher. Despite not wanting his son to be in harms way, Culann gifted his son a magical shield which would deflect all but the blows of the greatest weapons back upon Shirou's foes.

During his training with the knights, Shirou attempted to learn how to pole vault. While he had no success, his efforts did catch the eye of a young noblewoman and sorceress named Rin. His determination to learn this method of combat, despite his constant failures, intrigued her. They became close friends throughout Shirou's training and, over time, fell in love. When Shirou finished his training, he requested her family's blessing for their union, which was happily granted.

However, some did not take kindly to the couple's happiness. One such person was a brash nobleman named Shinji, who abducted Rin while Shirou was out gathering guests for the wedding ceremony tried to force her to marry him instead. Luckily, though, Cu Chulainn happened upon them while returning from his training with Scathach. He correctly guessed Shinji's intention to rape the woman despite her lack of consent, so he killed the young lord's thugs and then Shinji himself. Yet as he was freeing Rin, Shirou arrived and mistook Cu Chulainn as Rin's abductor. At once, a duel commenced between the two warriors. Shirou refused to see reason until Rin freed herself and ended the fight, clearing the misunderstanding and scolding Shirou for his rash actions. Cu Chulainn, for his part, was confused as to why Culann's geas hadn't worked on Shirou, until he finally realized how he had accidentally started the fire in Shirou's home so many years ago.

While the two warriors never truly became friends, Shirou did agree to end hostilities with Cu. But only if the latter would serve as Rin's personal guard for one year whenever Shirou was away while, of course, not making any advances on her. The terms were agreed upon and both men were guests at each other's weddings and would often be seen on the same missions as knights of the red branch. As the respect between the two warriors grew, Cu suggested that Shirou train under Scathach so that they could truly be equals in battle. Following his advice, Shirou and Rin traveled to the land of shadows and spent a year in her company, each of them learning new skills.

However, it was during their absence that queen Medb of Connacht invaded Ulster until she was defeated by Cu Chulainn. They only returned in time to save Cu from Medb's many attempts to avenge herself against the guard dog of Ulster. Unfortunately, Medb finally succeeded when Fergus, who had defected to Connacht, was sent to distract Shirou so that her assassins could hunt Cu Chulainn without interference. Yet Fergus was beaten by his former pupil and shamed for his betrayal. In an attempt at redemption, Fergus gave his sword Caladbolg to Shirou so that it might be used by a man more just than he. Despite his new weapon, Shirou was unable to save his fellow warrior, but he charged none the less into the battlefield to protect Cu's corpse from desecration.

Baring witness to Shirou's success, Medb desired to bed him and soon offered a proverbial olive branch to Ulster. She offered reparations for her attempted invasion in exchange of having Shirou as one of her lovers. Rin, however, would not stand for this and challenged Medb to a duel, one which would be judged by the kings of the other three kingdoms of Ireland. If Rin won, Medb was to provide the aid she offered to Ulster and not to lay a hand on Shirou. Should Medb be victorious, however, Ulster was to submit to Connacht, Rin would become her servant and the queen would be able to do with Shirou as she pleased. Shirou was unable to do anything as the two women fought with his future and that of Ulster in jeopardy. To his immense relief, despite it being a difficult battle that would leave scars on both combatants, Rin was the ultimate victor. Shirou and Rin would live a long life until dying peacefully in their sleep, with Shirou only wishing that he had been able to save Cu Chulainn so that they truly could have been friends.

**Classes: Saber, Berserker, Shielder**

**Titles: Guardian of Ulster**

**Pride of the Red Branch Knights**

**Son of Culann**

**Sex: male**

**Alignment: Chaotic Good**

**Noble Phantasms**

**Caladbolg, the rainbow sword: a noble phantasm that he shares with Fergus due to him giving it to Shirou in an act of redemption, this spiral shaped sword releases a wave of rainbow coloured energy that is ranked as an A+ anti army attack that can target at least 300 people.**

**Gift of Culann, a father's protection: the shield created by Shirou's father which was meant to turn any blow aimed for the wielder back upon the attacker. As a defensive noble phantasm, it will turn the effects of any anti unit and anti army attack back upon the offender even if they are EX rank. Anti fortress attacks will be outright stopped but will not deflect them, and Anti divine and Anti world attacks will only be weakened by a decrease in rank.**

**Fulfilled geas, thrice wronged: In life Shirou was cursed by his father in order to protect him from a fight to the death with Cu Chulainn, the curse would only allow Shirou to fight his foe if Cu Chulainn wronged him three times in his life, while Culann believed that the hound of Ulster would do nothing to provoke Shirou, no one knew that the curse's conditions had been met even before it was caste. Therefore, this noble phantasm will grant Shirou complete magic immunity, even EX rank Magecraft will not work on him directly. It can only be activated if Shirou fights an opponent three times and Shirou does not truly win, it has no limit to how many enemies it can apply to, but the activation must be applied to each one.**

**Author's note: Well this was something, a couple of reviews in chapter 1 said that Shirou was rather op. I just want to point out that the Babylonian Shirou in particular was made to fight Gilgamesh so of course he needed to be op to beat that no good piece of horse manure. Pardon my language but I really hate that demigod. Hopefully this time Shirou will only be powerful and not over powered.**

**I wanted the fight between Rin and Medb to be similar to Rin and Luvia and Medb wanting Shirou as a lover being the cause of the fight seemed a plausible one. **

**Now for a spot of bad news, I'm afraid that the next chapter will only come out after the English sub release of the third Heaven's feel movie. I'm sorry but I'm going to be relying upon it for inspiration for the third chapter, once this has occurred, I will publish the remaining chapters in short order. In the mean time I will publish other stories to make up for it, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**


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